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Physician Survey on the AHCA

Historically, physicians have rarely been supportive of government sponsored legislation intended to shape how healthcare is delivered in the United States.

According to a new survey conducted by Merritt Hawkins, this lack of support extends to the American Health Care Act (AHCA) – at least to the version recently passed by the House.

The survey of 1,112 physicians indicates that 66% of physicians have a negative impression of the AHCA, only 26% have a positive impression, and seven percent are neutral.

In a 2016 survey of 17,236 physicians that Merritt Hawkins conducted on behalf of The Physicians Foundation, 23% of physicians gave the Affordable Care Act (ACA) a positive grade of A or B, 28% gave it an average grade of C, while 48% gave it a negative grade of D or F. The AHCA, now being considered by the Senate, gets an even higher negative rating, according to the new Merritt Hawkins survey. Fifty-eight percent of those surveyed have a strongly negative impression of the bill, 8% have a somewhat negative impression, while relatively few (7%) are neutral.

The survey has an error rate of +/- 2.87% as determined by experts in statistical response at the University of Tennessee and echoes statements from the American Medical Association and other physician groups that have come out against the bill. Read what Forbes had to say regarding the survey here.

I would welcome any comments others may have about the ACHA and about how the healthcare system can or should be reformed.

Phillip Miller is Vice President of Communications for Merritt Hawkins, the nation’s leading physician search firm and a company of AMN Healthcare. He can be reached here .